Country Music's Original Bad Boy

Today's post features the official trailer for "The Last Ride."

"The Last Ride" is the soon to be released movie about Hank Williams' (born HIRAM KING WILLIAMS) death. The movie stars Henry Thomas, Jesse James, Fred Dalton Thompson, and Kaley Cuoco.

Williams was born with spina bifida occulta, a painful spine condition which led to his use of alcohol and drugs as a means to cope with the pain. About Hank's drug use, Wiki says...

In 1952, Williams's consumption of alcohol, morphine and other painkillers to ease the pain resulting from his back condition caused problems in his personal and professional life. He divorced his wife and was fired by the Grand Ole Opry due to frequent drunkenness.On January 1, 1953, on the way to a concert, he had a doctor inject him with a combination of vitamin B12 and morphine, which, added to the alcohol and chloral hydrate that Williams had consumed earlier, caused him to have a fatal heart attack. He was only 29. 

Emmy Lou Drives a Hard Bargain

From Amazon: Emmylou Harris's Hard Bargain will be released April 26 on Nonesuch Records.... Hard Bargain, which comprises 11 new songs by Harris as well as two covers, was produced by Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, Patty Griffin). 

Also available as a deluxe edition of the album, which includes a DVD featuring six performances interspersed with interviews.

Townes Van Zandt

The weather's been good for the past few days, warm with sunshine breaking through the clouds from time to time. But the rainy, gloomy weather that preceded it got me thinking about Townes Van Zandt.

The blogger at Cuckoo Bird says Van Zandt "speaks to some of the darkest places of the human psyche." Trust me, Cuckoo Bird got that right. Before we listen to a few of his songs, here's a whole lotta wiki info on Mr. Van Zandt, who died in 1997.

John Townes Van Zandt^[1] (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997), best-known asTownes Van Zandt, was an American country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet. Many of his songs, including "If I Needed You," "To Live is to Fly," and "No Place to Fall" are considered standards of their genre.While alive, Van Zandt was labeled as a cult musician: though he had a small and devoted fanbase, he never had a successful album or single, and even had difficulty keeping his recordings in print.^[2][3] In 1983, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggardcovered his song "Pancho and Lefty," scoring a number one hit on the Billboard country music charts.^[2][4] Despite achievements like these, the bulk of his life was spent touring various dive bars,^[5] often living in cheap motel rooms, backwoods cabins, and on friends' couches.^[3] Van Zandt was notorious for his drug addictions,^[6] alcoholism,^[6] and his tendency to tell tall tales.^[7] When young, he was diagnosed with manic depression, and insulin shock therapy erased much of hislong-term memory.^[8][9][10]Van Zandt died on New Years Day 1997 from health problems stemming from years of substance abuse.^[6] The 2000s saw a resurgence of interest in Van Zandt.^[2]During the decade, two books, a documentary film, and a number of magazine articles about the singer were created.^[2] Van Zandt's music has been covered by such notable and varied musicians as Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan,^[11] Norah Jones,^[12] Steve Earle, Meat Puppets and Robert Plant's Band of Joy.

In a funk? Want to hear a truly bleak song? Try Van Zandt's "Nothin."

He could laugh too. Here he is performing his "Talking Thunderbird Blues" in 1993.

A very sad Van Zandt song, in a moving performance by Nancy Griffith: "Tecumseh Valley."

Blog Ad for Blood Country

I worked on this two weeks ago. It took me awhile to find a place on the Net where I could reduce the size of the pic to 125 x 125. I've just placed the ad on Country Music Tattletale (see the link in my right sidebar).

The Dirt Drifters

You've got your dirty jokes, dirty money, and dirty dancing. Then there's The Dirty Dozen, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and, of course, our own humble abode, Country Dirt blogspot.

Now there's another dirt in town. The Dirt Drifters are Warner Bros. Nashville recording artists. They've been on a radio tour around the country. I really like these guys. Love their name and the song "Something Better" is a great single. Along with the Nitty Gritty, these guys could become our house band here on the Dirt.